Zhu Zhuqing, Played to Exhaustion

Meanwhile, in a deserted little forest outside Suotuo City.

On that bright, sunny morning, Zhu Zhuqing's face was flushed from the heat. Beads of sweat the size of beans ran down from her forehead to her neck, then dripped onto her chest, soaking it.

Bent over with both hands braced on her knees, she stuck out her tender pink tongue and gasped for breath. Her black skintight leather outfit had long since been drenched in sweat.

"Jie, jie, jie, Zhu Zhuqing, can't you take it already?"

Li Wuyou looked at the thoroughly embarrassed Zhu Zhuqing and let out a string of "jie, jie, jie" laughs, the kind only a villain could produce.

He had to admit, in a secluded little forest like this, he really did look like a great villain forcing himself on an innocent young woman.

That "jie, jie, jie" laugh in particular gave Li Wuyou a strange thrill, making him want to do something bad to Zhu Zhuqing right away to let off some steam.

"Y-Your Excellency Angel, you're too fast!"

"I'm just a little level twenty-seven Soul Grandmaster. Of course my physique can't compare to yours. I hope you can slow down, just a little bit."

Zhu Zhuqing was so exhausted she could barely catch her breath. After several hours of intense, strenuous exercise, she felt as though Li Wuyou was about to play her completely to pieces.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk! Zhu Zhuqing, you really can't keep up!"

"Hang on a little longer!"

"This strenuous exercise is almost over!"

"Once we're through this forest, Suotuo City will be right below us!"

Li Wuyou curled his lip and looked at Zhu Zhuqing with undisguised disdain.

He hadn't even exerted himself yet, and Zhu Zhuqing had already collapsed!

And she was supposed to be an agility-type Soul Master. She really couldn't take much punishment!

"Y-Your Excellency Angel, if you don't like how slow I am, then why don't you carry me and fly back to Suotuo City? But you just had to make me run all the way back from the Star Dou Great Forest..."

Zhu Zhuqing plopped straight down on the ground.

She stuck out her tender pink tongue and gasped for breath. Her sweat-drenched black skintight leather outfit felt sticky against her skin, leaving her uncomfortable from head to toe.

"Tsk! Fine, fine!"

"We'll rest for ten minutes!"

"Then we'll go into Suotuo City."

Ignoring the thoroughly disheveled Zhu Zhuqing, Li Wuyou found a clean boulder and sat down on it.

As he had said before, he was a clean freak.

Zhu Zhuqing might not have bathed for days, so she had to be stinking. He didn't want to carry her all the way back.

But at this point, someone might ask!

Why had Li Wuyou brought Zhu Zhuqing to Suotuo City?

Naturally, it was to find someone to pay the ransom of one hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins!

Back in the outer region of the Star Dou Great Forest, Li Wuyou had checked Zhu Zhuqing's storage ring. She truly couldn't afford the ransom of one hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins.

To solve the problem of Zhu Zhuqing's ransom, Li Wuyou had thought it over and brought her straight back to Suotuo City.

Was there anyone in all of Suotuo City willing to pay one hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins to ransom Zhu Zhuqing?

Well!

Believe it or not, there really was someone.

Naturally, that someone was Zhu Zhuqing's fiancé in name, Dai Mubai, one of the Shrek Seven Monsters of Shrek Academy.

Although that lecherous tiger Dai Mubai had fallen on hard times, he was still the third prince of the Star Luo Empire. Li Wuyou knew he definitely had one hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins.

After all, he had learned from Zhu Zhuqing that some nobles in the Star Luo Empire were still secretly funding Dai Mubai, so a large sum of Gold Soul Coins came into Dai Mubai's hands every month.

Otherwise, where had Dai Mubai gotten the money to spend his days drinking and chasing women, with one in each arm, during all these years in Suotuo City?

That money couldn't possibly have fallen from the sky, could it?

While Li Wuyou was lost in thought, Zhu Zhuqing looked down from their elevated position and immediately saw a city a short distance beyond the forest.

On the plaque above its gate were carved the three large characters "Suotuo City."

"Suotuo City!"

"Is Dai Mubai here?"

Thinking of her own objective, Zhu Zhuqing fell silent.

Back in the Star Dou Great Forest, she had deliberately mentioned to "Angel" that some nobles in the Star Luo Empire were secretly investing in Dai Mubai. Her purpose was naturally to get Dai Mubai to pay her ransom of one hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins.

Now that she had fallen out with the Nether Duke's Mansion, she couldn't get help from her family, much less produce the enormous sum of one hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins herself.

If she wanted to raise the ransom of one hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins demanded by Li Wuyou reliably, quickly, and safely, she could only think of another way.

As it happened, her destination after fleeing the Star Luo Empire was Suotuo City, not far away.

And her purpose in coming to Suotuo City was to find Dai Mubai.

As it also happened, Li Wuyou was preparing to return to Suotuo City.

Since she was coming to Suotuo City to find Dai Mubai, and Li Wuyou was also preparing to return there, she decided to set her sights on the two of them.

She could get a powerful fellow like Li Wuyou as a free bodyguard and have Dai Mubai pay the ransom of one hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins she owed.

After all, Dai Mubai had screwed her over for so long. Surely it wasn't too much to ask him for a little interest?

She had to admit, the plan was simply perfect.

"Your Excellency Angel, there's something I'd like to discuss with you!"

Thinking of her next objective, Zhu Zhuqing's lips curled up slightly, and a calculating glint flashed in her eyes.

"Stop calling me Angel all the time!"

"I have a name!"

"My name is Li Wuyou. Wuyou, as in carefree."

"I'm older than you, so you can call me Brother Li."

"Of course, you can also call me Handsome."

At the thought of getting one hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins, Li Wuyou introduced himself, a rare occurrence. Only then did he look at Zhu Zhuqing curiously, wondering what she wanted to discuss with him.

Zhu Zhuqing was momentarily stunned. "Li Wuyou?"

"Wuyou, as in carefree?"

"A good name!"

"You're older than me, so I'll call you Brother Li!"

Although she was curious why Li Wuyou, who possessed the Six-Winged Angel Martial Soul, was surnamed Li rather than Qian, she thought it over and stopped dwelling on the question.

Perhaps Li Wuyou's mother was a member of the Angel Clan who had married outside it, and he might have taken the surname Li from his father.

"Mm! Brother Li it is, then. Call me whatever you want!"

"Zhu Zhuqing, go ahead!"

"What did you want to discuss with me just now?"

Li Wuyou didn't care that Zhu Zhuqing had chosen to call him Brother Li instead of Handsome.

Once he received the ransom of one hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins, the two of them would go their separate ways for good. After all, he wasn't the kind of man who couldn't move his feet at the sight of a woman.

Nor would he deliberately try to please Zhu Zhuqing, much less go out of his way to fawn over her.

He had Zi Yue as his girlfriend. There was no need for him to lower himself and press his warm face against someone's cold backside.